It has been a fulfilling year, says Sajid Nadiadwala

By HT

Filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala is happy with the way the year has progressed. He says that many challenges he braced in the beginning have turned out well.

“This year was full of challenges. And, it is tuning out to be a ­successful one. We launched new actors like Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon in Heropanti; a new director—Abhishek Verma — in 2 States and ­ventured into regional cinema with a hit — Lai Bahri, a Marathi film. It’s a big high, a totally ­different feeling,” says Sajid, who also made his ­directorial debut with the Salman Khan-starrer Kick, which crossed the Rs. 200-crore mark at the box office.

“I never thought I would direct a film. But, when Salman said, ‘You’ll direct this film,’ I could not say no. He is family and we have known each other for 20-22 years and have had a great journey,” says the 48-year-old filmmaker.

However, he has no plans of directing any more films for now. “Directing a film is a lot of physical work. I like to work at my own pace, when we were doing Kick, Salman would wake me up at 6 am. For at least five years, I don’t think I can direct. It’s taxing. I am not mentally ready to allocate six months to just one film. Also, my hands are full with a lot of other films that are awaiting release, such as Phantom and Tamasha,” says Sajid, whose production, Highway, also got much acclaim in the first part of the year.

But has directing a film changed his perspective as a producer, for many are heard complaining that ­producers give a tight ­budget? “My producer was very generous,” laughs Sajid, who himself was the producer of his directorial.

Though there has been a buzz that he has signed actor Jacqueline Fernandez for a three-film contract, he ­clarifies, “Jacqueline is an amazing student and is now family. But I don’t believe in three-films-contract. Once a movie is over, both should be happy to work together of their own will.”